Time
by Xihlkage
Summary: How long can you hang on to hope?  How much can one take before walking away?  I suck a summaries but give it a chance, come on, you know you wanna... ML of course
1. epilogue

_A/N pt 1: Okay so I'm kind of at a __lose__ with the next chapter of my other story so I'm just going to take a short break on__ it because everything I spit out is pretty crappy so maybe taking a bit of a break will help. __Sry__ peeps but I __swears__ I will get back to it and finish it up._

_Pt 2: Now, I'm __kinda__ basing this __fanfic__ off of another one that I've read. __Its__ similar but not the same and for the life of me I cannot remember who wrote the one I'm basing it off of. So, that being said, if this seems __kinda__ familiar, I'm not trying to steal it from you, __its__ just a plot bunny that will not leave me alone, I had to write the first chapter at 230 in the morning just so I could sleep XD._

_Hope you enjoy it…_

Epilogue

Logan was just out for a stroll down the street. That was all it was meant to be. After going for a walk in a rough neighborhood, he was going to go back to his penthouse, make some dinner (he was kind of craving pasta at the moment), and then spend the rest of his night on the computer taking down bad guys. The irony was not lost on him. Of all the times he was to get hurt, it wasn't one on an Eyes Only mission. As he was walking past that average building with that average name, he was thinking of work. But has the building exploded and his world got turned upside down, that last thought that came to his mind was the face of his angel, his love, his Max. His world was blurry, he had lost his glasses somewhere… he just remembered that he had left the coffee pot on… and the computer hadn't been shut down so anyone could get onto the informant net… there were things that he needed to do, people he had to talk to, places to go… but none of them mattered now because now all he wanted to do was see Max again. He didn't stop thinking about her. There scene around him was a mess. People were screaming, there was a body somewhere and someone was hurt. He wondered who that was. He couldn't move and it hurt to breathe. His head hurt the worst. 'Its okay,' he thought. 'Max is okay so everything is okay.' He wasn't on an Eyes Only mission, and the irony was not lost on him. His only wish was to see Max again before he died…


	2. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Okay, so I am aware that I'm an amazing writer but nothing is mine…_

_Okay so this story is taking place post last book of DA whose name I cannot remember and really don't feel like getting off my lazy bum to look up but you get the point :D, enjoy…_

Chapter 1

Max hurried through the streets of Post-Pulse Seattle. She was so very late. She had told him three days ago that she would be there 15 minutes ago. She clutched her coat tighter around her body and pulled her baseball cap down as the hover drone passed by over head.

Why did there seem to be more hover drones in the "wealthier" parts of Seattle? It didn't really stop the crime; it just made it a little harder to pull off. Although, with the adrenaline rush that always seemed to follow, Max wasn't complaining.

Max pulled the coat tighter still, this time from the cold winter chill. Winter in Seattle was not pretty. The icy chill was one thing but the slush was just horrible. It didn't really snow but it may as well have because it might have made things a little better. They could at least have had some fun. She reached the familiar building. The warm air was an enormous welcome compared to what was outside at the moment. She opened her coat and took it off but kept her cap on for the cameras out of habit but there was no need really. Everybody knew her face, name, and business for being there and they pitied her. She hated a lot of things about this place but she hated the pity most. She didn't want or need it and it did nothing to help so she ignored them all.

She took the elevator to his floor, walked to his room and made herself at home. She couldn't bring herself to look at him so she looked everywhere else. The chart next to his bed said the same thing it always did so she made herself comfortable in the chair next to the chart next to his bed and put her feet next to his at the foot of his bed. She still couldn't look at him just yet.

"Hey, It's me," She said, opting to look down at her hands and fiddle with them. "Sorry I'm late; I got held up at a check point. It was unbelievable. I think they've gotten worse 'cause it was a short line but it took forever. Some jerk-off cop said he wouldn't let me through unless I agreed to go to dinner and a movie with him. He kept So I gave him Mole's number, smiled real pretty, and told him to call me." She laughed nevously to herself. "Mole's gonna have a fit." She finally looked at Logan. He looked so peaceful. Then she noticed all of the tubes and gizmos sticking out of him. She was about to say something else when a nurse walked in and Max shut her mouth quickly. She still wasn't used to talking to him in front of people. It had taken her forever just to talk out loud and now whisper.

"Hey, Max" The nurse said softly, casually, practiced.

"Hey, Sandy" Max replied with the same tone. "How is he?" She already knew the answer, she had read the chart, and she had always gotten the same answer to the same question that she's asked every time she visits.

"No change." Good and bad news. Watching Sandy work, Max mused about their job. She suspected that they only but up with her because she occasionally brought them free, and good, coffee.

Sandy glanced at Max, who was now looking at Logan with an unreadable expression. "How long has it been?" She was just making conversation. All the nurses knew that Max didn't talk about her work, her social life, her past, her friends, or her relationship with the patient except when she was talking to the patient. But she did talk about him.

"Three years, two months and five days." She said mechanically. Sandy nodded. Max had spared her the time in hours, minutes, and seconds though she knew them. Her life revolved around his hospital bed and everybody knew it.

"How long where you guys together?" Asked Sandy. She was taking a leap by asking but maybe she couldn't help herself. Max stared at her for a moment. She liked Sandy.

"Three years." She whispered finally, looking back and the figure lying before her.

"The longer he stays asleep, the less likely he'll wake up. But that doesn't mean you should lose hope. He's a fighter. It was a miracle he survived at all, remember. Don't lose hope." Sandy placed a hand on Max's from across the bed. All she could do was nod. When Max finally met her eyes, there was no pity in them. She liked Sandy.

As the nurse left to do other rounds, Max turned her attention back to Logan.

"Hey, I know I'm a little late but I've chosen a birthday. It's the day we met." The clock read 7:43 pm. She proceeded to tell him of everything he missed since she had last been there. Normal's new catch phrase, the funny thing Sketchy did last night at Crash, Original Cindy's new squeeze, Alec finally proposed to Katrina, who he's been dating for the last 2 years and she actually knows he's a transgenic. Her family isn't too happy about it though.

A different nurse came in at nine to tell Max that she was sorry but Max would have to go home. Then she left not even waiting for Max's reply.

"I gotta go now, they're kicking me out. I don't know if I'll be able to come back until Friday but I will definitely make it then. Alec and Katrina are having their engagement party and Normal's got me working a late shift later this week but I will see you on Friday." She paused. "I love you." She whispered finally, placing a kiss lightly on his lips.

As she walked out of the hospital room she passed the nurses' station. She could feel their pity for her. She also felt the pity could go to hell because she didn't want or need it.

_A/N: and again I find myself writing at 230 am. This is going to turn into a real problem once school starts up… Tell me what you thought._

_Please and thank you :D_


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: Okay, so I am aware that I'm an amazing writer but nothing is mine…_

Max left the hospital all bundled up in her coat and hat. A small part of her worried that her coat might break from her rapping it so tight around her body but she knew that she could handle the cold if she had to. She just didn't want to.

She sighed and trudged on. It wasn't that her walk was long; in fact the walk from the hospital to her apartment was only a 30 minute walk. She just liked to meander her way home. She spent quite a while to get home. OC was used to it, of course, and only got seriously worried if Max didn't show up at work the next day.

On this particular night, Max's 30 minute walk home turned out to last 3 hours, 2 of which were spent sitting on the Space Needle almost shivering her ass off, but that was besides the point.

When Max arrived home around midnight, Original Cindy had already headed to bed with her new squeeze. Max just let herself in silently and tiptoed to her own room. She got ready for bed, got herself comfortable, and found that she couldn't sleep… yet again. She slept earlier this week and assumed that sleeping now would be a bit premature, '_but it would be nice for a little bit of normalcy in my life, is that just too much to ask?_' she thought. After a while Max decided that she needed a beer… or something significantly stronger. Before she could talk herself into going out and most likely end up doing something she was probably going to regret in the morning, she hauled her way to the kitchen and pulled out a beer.

She thought seriously about going out and spending obscene amount of money on some really strong alcohol (because that's about what it took for an X5 to get drunk, and it didn't even last that long) when she heard movement behind her. She would have jumped if her lightning fast catlike reflexes hadn't prevented her from engaging combat with a rather surprised looking OC walking into the kitchen.

"Hey Boo, I didn't even hear you come in," She said looking very tired. "Did you just get in?"

"Uh, yea, a little while ago. I didn't mean to disturb you, I just needed a beer." Max replied, holding up her unopened bottle. Like OC could even see it in the dark. "You have fun at Crash tonight?"

"You know me. Original Cindy is the life of the party!" She was wearing a smug smirk.

"So you keep telling me, Boo. Now go back to sleep, 'cause you look horribly tired."

The index finger came up and Max realized what she had said. "Now, two things, one) I," pause for dramatic effect, "do not look horrible no matter how tired I may look, and two) last I checked it is so not against the law to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Now get out of my way, girl's gotta pee." She pushed her way past Max and hurried into the bathroom while Max just snickered at her.

Max stopped smiling and scolded herself. It felt wrong, she shouldn't be laughing. She shouldn't even be smiling. Logan Cale was in the hospital in a coma. She should not be laughing.

'_And why not?_' Asked a rebellious part of her brain.

'_Because it's wrong._' Came a defensive part.

'_Yes, but why? Just because he's in a coma, doesn't mean you have to be-_'

'_Logan is in __thee__ hospital, I shouldn't be happy until he gets out!_'

'_What are you, his widow?!_'

'_Well-_'

'_No, no, let me finish. I know your still in love with the guy but he's not exactly waking up. He may never wake up at all. Do you want to be miserable for the rest of __you__ life? Would Logan want you to be miserable for the rest of your life?_'

'_Well, no but…_'

'_Still not done. It's been 3 years. 3 long years of work, hospital, mop. __Every day.__ So why can't you be happy? Haven't you grieved enough? When do you let go?_'

'_I don't know. I don't know if I can be happy here. I mean, I love my friends but I don't know if they're enough anymore. There are just so many memories. There's so much pain._'

There was an eerie silence in her musings when she realized she had made her way back to her room and sat on the bed staring at the beer bottle. It was still unopened. She set it on the nightstand.

'_Maybe you should just sleep on it…_'

'_Yea, maybe…_' Was the last thought she had before drifting off to sleep in her not so comfortable, cheap-ass bed… Logan's was softer.

* * *

Max walked into Jam Pony so very on time that Normal almost passed out. It was becoming a regular deal and he still was not used to it. He was thinking about asking her to get her head checked out. Instead he just sort of grunted at her and she, in turn, took that as a "Good morning. How are you?". Wishful thinking. She just nodded back to him.

The news was playing on the TV in the "break room" and Max couldn't help but overhear some busty, blonde reporter give what she probably thought of as news but was really just some tabloid trash that even Sketchy's magazine wouldn't touch. Max had a bet with another rider that she would be gone by the end of the week.

A new anchor came on and talked about how some Mutant Rights whiners were holding a seminar at some 2 star hotel to try to get the rights revoked. There weren't the first or, probably, the last. Oh, well, sucks to be them. Actually, in truth, the mutant community was fairly surprised by how quickly the Ordinary community had accepted them. Granted, it wasn't overnight but considering there weren't high hopes for them to begin with, it was still pretty quick. Max turned her attention back to the reports. Something about a corrupt senator getting whatever it was he wanted and then,:

"And in other news, it has been a year and a half since the last Eyes Only broadcast and already the crime rate has shot up a whopping 80." Did they always have to sound so damn perky?! "Authorities are beginning to believe the masked vigilante was helping more than hurting the…" Masked vigilante?! Beginning?! Max shook her head. Morons. She grabbed a package from Normal and headed outside. Not only was the sleet bad today, but now it had started to rain. God, she hated it here.

_A/N: 230 am__ exactly, I'm getting really good at this… scary…_

_Review :D_

_Please and thank __you :D_


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